Linz Restitutes Klimt Painting - Unanimous Decision of Town Council

Austrian Press Agency (APA) (06/04/2009) 

Jewish Community (IKG) expresses gratitude 

Linz/Vienna – The City of Linz will return the painting, “Portrait of Ria Munk III,“ currently part of the holdings of Linz’s Lentos Museum. After a preliminary decision had been taken by Mayor Franz Dobusch and Deputy-Mayor Erich Watzl in April, the Town Council gave their unanimous approval.  

The result of provenance research conducted over a longer period of time provided the basis for restitution after having classified the piece of art as having “questionable origins.“ The costly painting is to be returned to the heirs of Aranka Munk, who have already expressed their gratitude. Aranka Munk died during the Holocaust.   

Following the official decision and establishing the procedures involving transfer of ownership, the portrait of the woman is to be handed over to the Jewish Community (IKG), who are serving as restitution representatives. The Jewish Community expressed its thanks for the “constructive and excellent cooperation over the past few years, emphasizing as particularly positive the detailed and orderly manner in which the City of Linz carried out the facts of the case.“